Musings on dressmaking

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I may like my second Moneta even more than my first. Why? Because. Dinosaurs!

The pattern
Colette’s Moneta dress 🙂

Modifications
I didn’t gather the skirt the way the pattern instructs – I just don’t have the knack with clear elastic at all. I just gathered it in the standard way (basting and pulling the back thread). I also shortened the skirt a little, but that is a fairly standard modification for me – so much so that I barely even count it.

The fabric
I found the fabric on eBay. It came from a shop in Germany, I think. It is really soft and comfortable to wear, but my machine hated this fabric. It just kept trying to eat it, sometimes in the middle of a seam with no explanation whatsoever – majorly stressful. Every now and then I do come across a jersey my machine just won’t have. A lot of people have suggested a walking foot – I think I may have to take heed of their advice.

The cost
The fabric was £16 per metre. I bought two and have some leftover – probably enough for a very simple tee (hello, Agnes!) if I ever pluck up the courage to put this fabric through my machine again. I already had all the other supplies I needed, so about £32 for this one 🙂

I have to be completely honest and confess that I was never a huge fan of February’s Sew My Style pattern – not because I didn’t like it, but because I knew it just wouldn’t suit me. The shape isn’t right for my body. Luckily, I knew just the girl to make it for – my sewing buddy, Rachel 🙂 As it happens, she had already made herself a Saunio cardigan, so I knew it would suit her and that she’d like it. A plan was hatched – Rachel would buy some fabric and I would sew it up for her, so as to keep my involvement with Sew My Style going. A few weeks later, this had happened!

Hello, Rachel! Looking rather marvellous in her new jacket, isn’t she? Don’t you agree it looks much more like a jacket than a cardi in this fabric? It goes to show how versatile patterns can be. You can see some photos of Rachel’s other Saunio here and here on her Instagram – you’d never know they were made using the same pattern.

Rachel says…
I recently made myself a Saunio out of some slightly mad Missoni wool – it’s one of my #2017makenine projects. So when Vicki offered to make me a second Saunio for February’s #sewmystyle, I obviously said yes!

I decided I wanted this second Saunio to be a smart one I could wear to work, so I bought some navy Italian boiled wool from Fabric Godmother and gave it to Vicki, along with my traced pattern pieces and my Saunio toile.

And I absolutely love the Saunio Vicki’s made for me! The boiled wool makes it more structured than my Missoni Saunio and makes a real feature of the back. Also, the wool’s texture means that I can wear the cardigan closed without needing a fastening. And my favourite thing about it is that Vicki (knowing my love of hand-finished garments) blind-stitched all around the hems and the facing so it looks really perfect from the outside.

Thanks, Vicki! And you know, if there are any other #sewmystyle makes that aren’t your thing, I’m open to suggestions…

I guess you could say Rachel’s pleased with her cardi then! I’m so pleased you like it, Rachel 🙂

The pattern
The Saunio Cardigan by Named Clothing. My goodness do I wish this pattern suited me! I could do with some new cardies and it was sooooo fast to make! I think the cutting and sewing (well, most of the sewing – more on that in a minute) took about two hours. Magic! The instructions are a breeze to follow and the construction is possibly the easiest I’ve ever come across. Bravo, Named Clothing! Thumbs up from me.

Modifications
As Rachel has already explained, I chose to hand-finish the hems and facings. The nature of the fabric makes this necessary. Machine stitching would leave an unsightly ridge all the way around the garment, so I lovingly hand-finished with a blind hem stitch because I knew that was what Rachel would have done. This took longer than all the other sewing and cutting combined, but the finished look is well worth the effort. I didn’t use any interfacing, as the fabric is thick and stable enough to hold its own. I also used a straight stitch, rather than zigzagging or overlocking as the pattern suggests. The fabric has very little stretch and the pattern is loose-fitting, so I’m hoping it’s be okay.

The fabric
A lovely boiled wool from Fabric Godmother. I was a bit worried when I first got the fabric because it seemed so thick and I was worried about how my machine would cope. However, it actually turned out to be lovely to work with – it is a very thick fabric, but its actually very soft and the machine had no trouble with it at all.

The cost
For me? Not a penny 🙂 But it set Rachel back about £22.

P.S. I was so right to make this for someone else. I tried this on and looked like a right wally!

Remember me mentioning Sew My Style in my resolutions blog post? Today I’m sharing my first make with you 🙂 And I love it! I must confess, I wasn’t initially sure about this pattern, but I really wanted to take part in this initiative so I thought I would just give it a go and I’m so glad I did. I love this sweater ❤

The pattern
First up for Sew My Style was the Toaster Sweater (version 2) from Sew House 7. It’s sooooo easy! I think it probably took me just over two hours to make, including cutting the fabric, which is incredible. That even included time spent getting my head around new techniques. It was my first try at mitered corners – an absolute revelation! I would definitely use that technique on other patterns.

Modifications
I made no modifications to the pattern, but I did manage to fathom from reading the sizing guide that the sizes seemed to run a little large. So, in a fit of spontaneity (I say that, but I actually agonised over it for a good couple of days) I decided to risk tracing off the pattern based purely on the finished garment measurements, even though it meant I fell into the extra small category which has literally never happened before. I knew the jersey would have a lot of give anyway and luckily it paid off. My sister also made a smaller size than she ordinarily would have and hers looks fine. Anyway, I think this pattern sizing is on the large size, but as long as you take heed of the measurements you should be alright. The only other modification I might make next time would be to lengthen it a little.

The fabric
An absolutely stunning ponte di roma from the Textile Centre. I’m devastated because I loved this fabric so much that I wanted to buy more and make something else, but it now seems to be sold out 😦 I will be keeping a close eye out over the next few weeks in case it come back into stock.

The cost
I bought two metres of fabric for £6.74 in the sale – what a bargain! I think the pattern was about £9 (with the Sew My Style discount) once it was converted from dollars to pounds. I already had everything else I needed, which means that it was about £16 including the pattern, which is pretty darn good 🙂

So that’s the first Sew My Style project complete and my first resolution ticked off! Next up for Sew My Style is the Saunio Cardigan from Named Clothing, which I’m actually making for my friend, Rachel (hello, Rachel!), because I’m so certain it won’t be a pattern that will suit me. Rachel has picked the fabric and made a couple of Saunios herself already, so I can use those as a good indication as to whether I have the sizing right, and I can also use the pattern pieces she has already prepared, which cuts out a load of the boring parts of sewing – score! This will be about the third time I’ve sewn anything for someone else – don’t you think there’s quite a lot of pressure involved in making things for other people?! Wish me luck…

Who doesn’t love a staple Breton striped top? You can’t have too many of them, I feel – they’re perfect for casual jeans days and layering.

The pattern: the Molly top from Lisa Comfort’s My Capsule Wardrobe: City Break e-book. This is only my second make from this book so far (following on from my Alex shirt), but I assure you I’ll be making it all at some point! All the patterns are so beautiful, and they really do make a capsule wardrobe 🙂 This pattern couldn’t be an easier sew! What makes it so easy is the sleeves. They’re grown on at the cap and the length comes from adding the bottom half of the sleeve later on. It’s added in the flat and the seam line is virtually straight – much easier than set in sleeves. I think I sewed this top in a couple of hours – super speedy! I also tried a new stitch on my sewing machine for the top stitching and I love it. The only thing I will change next time is the size. I think I could go down a sizer at least, especially if I want to try the dress version – I don’t want the dress to be too relaxed in fit. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I bet this would be very easy to take in. Hmmmmm…

The fabric: a lovely purple and cream stripe from Girl Charlee UK. This fabric is super soft and comfortable. I have a little left which will most definitely be used for something – I’m thinking the cropped Megan Nielson Briar tee for Sew My Style because it’s drapes nicely.

The cost: I got the fabric while Girl Charlee were having a sale, so it only cost £10.90 for two metres. I already had everything else I needed 🙂 And as I say, I think I have enough left to squeeze another top out of it, so that’ll make it even more of a bargain.

Remember that bargain wool I mentioned a while back? It became a lovely cardigan 🙂 I’m very impressed with myself, and I’ve already worn it so much.

The pattern: the Vianne Cardigan from Untangling Knots. I must confess, I had not initially noticed the back of the cardigan, so that came as a bit of a shock when I came to start knitting. I’d purchased the pattern on a smartphone and couldn’t see how intricate it was. Having said that, it was still a great pattern to follow — the instructions are fab, it’s just that I ended up having to count a lot more than I’d thought.

Modifications: none at all. I’m just not a skilled enough knitter to be deviating away from a pattern like this.

The cost: the pattern was about £4.50, once converted from US dollars to pounds. I only ended up using five balls of wool, at £1 per ball. That’s a grand total of £9.50. Can’t complain about that at all. The buttons were from my stash — I picked them up when I raided a family member’s stash a while back.

I’m so pleased with this knit that I’ve already lined up Anouk 🙂 I just need to find some nice yarn.

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me for #SewingFrancoise. I was a runner up and won a £100 voucher for Plush Addict 😀 £100 of entirely guilt-free fabric shopping! Thank you so much for voting – I only started sewing a few months ago really, so I’m blown away. And thank you so much to Tilly for running the contest!

I’ve never bought anything from Plush Addict, and I was so excited when I realised how much I had to choose from. The fabric is all great and it came really quickly. I’ll definitely buy from them again.

Since my purchases will probably make up a large percentage of my 2015 projects, I thought I’d show you my haul and let you know what I’m planning to make.

I have Tilly to thank for my spoils, so I thought it only right that I make some Tilly clothes 🙂 Also, all her patterns are lush, so I don’t mind in the slightest. I bought some indigo canvas to make the Delphine skirt from Love at First Stitch. I got some striped jersey to try a Coco dress, which I’m very excited about because I’ve wanted to make Coco for ages. Aaaannnnd… I got some red faux silk to attempt her Mathilde blouse. That one is scaring me slightly because it looks a bit fiddly.

Buuut… before all of that, I’m going to make a pair of pyjama bottoms. I’m going to use the Margot pattern from Love at First Stitch (of course). I’m making them from this Dalmatian print cotton. Woof! Do you remember the cave girl costumes I made? Well, after making those, I was invited to take part in Jungle January by Pretty Grievances. So, I’ll be making my PJs before anything else so I don’t miss the January deadline.

So there you have it. My sewing plans for what must be most of 2015 (or possibly the rest of my life!) by the time I’ve finished. All down to Tilly and Plush Addict. Thanks, guys!